In Between The Reverie
by Stanzaar
Summary: Yukimura was a realist. He had enough dreaming with the jokes the world had offered to his face. On the contrary, Shiraishi was a dreamer. He enjoyed to be drown in his world of imaginations. And yet, they understood each other for their differences. With a dash of Kirihara Akaya, they agreed on thing they usually didn't.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

* * *

In the winter of their last day of middle school, Kirihara Akaya couldn't stop but cry so visibly that even Niou didn't tease him upon seeing the sight. He wanted to, but how could he? His lovable junior was crying so earnestly for their graduation. They were leaving, and Kirihara couldn't accept that fact. He would even endure Sanada's harsh training, he said – anything to stop them from leaving him all alone.

Sanada wanted to shout his trademark 'Tarundoru!' to Kirihara, but even Sanada was left clueless of what to do. He had shown no hint of sadness or any of the sorts, and yet there he was, crying like a baby – like what he used to be when he challenged the three of them for the first time.

Marui had tried to soothe him with sweets, which only turned out to be a waste of energy – the thing that Marui conserved most. He would eat the sweets if it meant they would not leave, Kirihara said. But Marui could promise nothing, and he ate the sweets instead, much to Kirihara's dismay – he would absolutely welcome sweets with a bright smile if the circumstance were a little different.

The others, they could only watch in sympathy, because they understood. They understood how their junior was feeling, even if it was only the tiniest bit of what he actually felt. After all, he was left behind all alone. They were supposed to be a team, and leaving was just unforgivable. But they knew staying behind was impossible – at least, they still wanted to graduate to high school.

"We'll wait for you there, Akaya." He said tenderly. Kirihara only needed those words. He needed to know that he wasn't going to be left behind. He needed to know that they would remember him given any situation.

But he needed more than that. He needed to be convinced. He needed an assurance.

"How would I know that you will really wait for me, Buchou?" he said in between breaths, meeting the eyes of his ever-kind captain.

Yukimura smiled, ruffling the hair of the younger boy with continuous chugging from the latter. Somehow, the tears wouldn't stop flowing no matter how hard he tried. But Yukimura once again understood, and he ruffled his hair some more.

"Because Akaya," he shifted his gaze to two green eyes so profoundly that it made the tears stop for a second, and Kirihara couldn't help but be entranced by those mesmerizing ones his captain had,

"You know we will."

And a whole set of tears ran down his cheeks once again. But it was evident – and the others couldn't help but flicker a tinge of smile – that it was tears of happiness.

He was happy, he thought. He was grateful to have such friends. Kirihara Akaya was indeed a young and fortunate boy. He had learnt what true friendship meant that his captain's words made so much sense to his ears.

He must thank a certain captain in Osaka later, for teaching him things that worth a lot more than tennis.

_Thank you._

* * *

A/N: I'm thinking of writing some kind of bromance here, so I'm not sure if it will be a shounen-ai or not. Well, everybody needs some good friendship between boys. Do you? Because I DOOOOOOOO. It's just adorable. Oh, and it's not a one-shot. It somehow seems like a one-shot. There's so much more Shiraishi to look forward to because I love Shiraishi, don't you all? Anyway, it's some sort of experiment of mine. If it doesn't turn out well, I might discontinue it. I mean, I still have lots more to work on on understanding the essence of BROMANCE. ALL HAIL BROMANCE!

In truth, I still don't see the relevance between this crappy prologue and the plot I have in mine lol. Anyway, it sets after the U-17, but I'm not going to talk about that. I just want to let you know that since it's after the U-17, that's why Kirihara was pretty close with Shiraishi. Get the point?


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

* * *

Shiraishi had built a certain bond during his stay in the U-17 camp with two of the eight tennis regulars of Rikkai Dai Fuzoku. His relationship with the captain was only established on account of their shared interest, whilst on the other hand, his friendship with its youngest member was created due to the trust he had been granted from one of the Three Demons.

Once, Kirihara had invited him to come to Tokyo during the Golden Week. To him, it was a very compelling idea. Not to mention, Kirahara had been quite jumpy about wanting a match against him, so he really did not find any reason to refuse.

He had brought Kenya along, and Kirihara didn't seem to mind the company. In fact, he seemed quite entertained by Kenya's presence, though they did only bicker with one another. Kirihara himself had also brought a person that was very familiar to his senses. Kirihara claimed that his captain wanted to tag along, and never in his right mind would he object his captain's request.

For a quite a while, both captains exchanged flickers of acknowledgement and smiled only to be drown in a sea of pleasant silence. Their companions did not bother to question the – what they thought – strange silence that occurred between the two of them. One lesson both Kirihara and Kenya had learnt during the time they spent in the camp was a silence that elapsed between them and Fuji Shuusuke wasn't a matter to be issued.

But Yukimura and Shiraishi knew that their reunion wasn't one to be passed with only wordlessness, no matter how agreeable it seemed. And Shiraishi broke the silence at last, "How do you do, Yukimura?"

"I'm doing great, and you?"

Shiraishi shifted his hands back into the warm pockets of his jacket in respond to the blowing wind that chilled him down to the spine, "A bit cold." He said in between the shivering in his voice.

"It's only autumn, Shiraishi," Yukimura chuckled heartily, "you have yet experienced the winter in Kanagawa."

"I would love to feel it then. Care to invite me back next winter?" he asked jokingly. Why jokingly? Because he knew Yukimura wasn't one to make promises. Yukimura was in fact quite distant, yet it didn't make him one less intrigued with anything related to Yukimura Seiichi.

And Yukimura only smiled slightly in return, turning his gaze toward the bickering duo once again. Shiraishi followed suit, shivering ever-slightly under the passing wind. It certainly amazed him how Yukimura didn't even flinch with the present of the frigid wind – like how he was amazed by how well he played tennis, if he could somehow relate those two things.

"Are you going to Rikkai again for high school?" Shiraishi asked under his breath, glancing slightly toward his blue haired companion.

"Of course." Answered Yukimura.

"Looking forward on playing you next year then." Said Shiraishi, certain that Yukimura knew what he were referring to. And so, he was quite taken aback by Yukimura's questioning look – what else could he be referring to? It made Shiraishi frown.

"Tennis," he said again in between the confusion. If Shiraishi was perceptive, then he noticed that very little second of apprehension Yukimura made. Then it changed into a knowing gaze – and Shiraishi didn't understand what it meant – for the briefest time Shiraishi could notice.

Once again, like those emotions never came into view, Yukimura smiled with much less brilliance that Shiraishi had always looked up to, "Sure."

* * *

Yukimura wasn't as fragile as everyone thought he was. It was just unfortunate of him to have a disease such as Guillain-Barre syndrome. And yet, he was able to stand up to it like what most people couldn't. Sanada could never think a person as strong as that could be called fragile.

But, Yukimura was never left with his feminine features. It was what make most people thought he was fragile, even if he in fact weren't. The way Yukimura coughed would always worry Sanada. He cared for his captain, no matter how much he convinced himself that he wasn't fragile – he was just unfortunate.

Sanada had observed how Yukimura had been coughing frequently as of late. But Yukimura always avoided the subject. He would smile reassuringly and silence Sanada from all of his anxiety. As much as Sanada hated to admit it, he had to worry less about his captain. After all, Yukimura had undergone that surgery offered by a guy from the U-17 camp. If Yukimura's coughing actually meant anything, it would never be related to his previous disease. Even Yanagi didn't look perturb as much. Yanagi was smart. If he noticed something unusual, he would do the right thing without a flinch.

That was how Sanada convinced himself. He didn't have to be worried. He _couldn't _be worried. His worry would only be some baseless feeling that hindered his team's victory.

And so, Sanada wasn't worried at the very least.

* * *

A/N: the timeline would be kinda messed up from here on. Maybe. And it was deliberately done. I like to jump the time settings into here and there, so don't get confused c: Still not sure if I should make it into a shounen-ai :c


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